BILL NUMBER: AB 1505	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   967
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   SEPTEMBER 3, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 25, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 16, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 12, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 8, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ducheny
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Ashburn, Cardoza, Florez, Reyes, and
Soto)
   (Coauthor:  Senator Polanco)

                        FEBRUARY 26, 1999

   An act to amend Sections 51238, 51238.5, 65580, 65583, and 65950
of, and to add Section 51230.2 to, the Government Code, relating to
farmworker housing.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1505, Ducheny.  Farmworker housing.
   (1) The Williamson Act authorizes any city or county to enter into
a contract with the owner of agricultural land for the purpose of
preserving that land in accordance with the conditions established by
the act and that contract.  The act authorizes the landowner to
petition the governing body of the relevant city or county for
cancellation of a contract or portion thereof for agricultural
laborer housing that is determined not to be a compatible use of the
contracted lands.  Prior to any tentative approval of the
cancellation, the governing body of the relevant city or county is
required to certify to the county auditor the amount of a
cancellation fee that the contracting landowner will pay as deferred
taxes upon cancellation of the contract, as specified.
   This bill would, with respect to agricultural laborer housing that
is a compatible use within an agricultural preserve, authorize
indemnification of the owner against claims arising from that use, if
the owner has agreed to that use.  The bill would also authorize a
landowner subject to a Williamson Act contract to subdivide not more
than 5 acres of land under contract to be sold or leased to a
nonprofit organization, city, county, housing authority, or state
agency and used for agricultural laborer housing for at least 30
years, as specified.
   (2) Existing law sets forth matters to be included in the housing
element of a local general plan.
   This bill would require the element to identify adequate sites for
farmworker housing, as specified, thereby creating a state-mandated
local program by imposing new duties on local agencies.
   (3) Existing law prescribes criteria for the disapproval of
housing development projects by local agencies.
   This bill would prescribe additional criteria relative to the time
period for approving or disapproving housing for agricultural
employees, thereby creating a state-mandated local program by
imposing new duties on local agencies.  These provisions would become
operative only if SB 948 is not enacted in the first year of the
1999-2000 Regular Session.
  (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 51230.2 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
   51230.2.  (a) Except as provided in Section 51238, and
notwithstanding Section 51222 or 66474.4, a landowner may subdivide
land that is currently designated as an agricultural preserve if all
of the following apply:
   (1) The parcel to be sold or leased is no more than five acres.
   (2) The parcel shall be sold or leased to a nonprofit
organization, a city, a county, a housing authority, or a state
agency.  A lessee that is a nonprofit organization shall not sublease
that parcel without the written consent of the landowner.
   (3) The parcel to be sold or leased shall be subject to a deed
restriction that limits the use of the parcel to agricultural laborer
housing facilities for not less than 30 years.  That deed
restriction shall also require that parcel to be merged with the
parcel from which it was subdivided when the parcel ceases to be used
for agricultural laborer housing.
   (4) There is a written agreement between the parties to the sale
or lease and their successors to operate the parcel to be sold or
leased under joint management of the parties, subject to the terms
and conditions and for the duration of the contract executed pursuant
to Article 3 (commencing with Section 51240).
   (5) The parcel to be sold or leased is (A) within a city or (B) in
an unincorporated territory or sphere of influence that is
contiguous to one or more parcels that are already zoned residential,
commercial, or industrial and developed with existing residential,
commercial, or industrial uses.
   (b) The agricultural labor housing project shall be designed to
abate, to the extent practicable, impacts on adjacent landowners'
agricultural husbandry practices.  The final plan for the housing
shall include an addendum that explains what features will be
included to meet this goal.
   (c) A subdivision of land pursuant to this section shall not
affect any contract executed pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with
Section 51240).  The parcel to be sold or leased shall remain subject
to that contract.
  SEC. 2.  Section 51238 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   51238.  (a) (1) Notwithstanding any determination of compatible
uses by the county or city pursuant to this article, unless the board
or council after notice and hearing makes a finding to the contrary,
the erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance of gas,
electric, water, communication, or agricultural laborer housing
facilities are hereby determined to be compatible uses within any
agricultural preserve.
   (2) No land occupied by gas, electric, water, communication, or
agricultural laborer housing facilities shall be excluded from an
agricultural preserve by reason of that use.
   (b) The board of supervisors may impose conditions on lands or
land uses to be placed within preserves to permit and encourage
compatible uses in conformity with Section 51238.1, particularly
public outdoor recreational uses.
  SEC. 3.  Section 51238.5 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   51238.5.  (a) If an owner of land agrees to permit the use of his
or her land for free public recreation, the board or council may
agree to indemnify the owner against all claims arising from that
public use.  The owner's agreement that the land be used for free,
public recreation shall not be construed as an implied dedication to
that use.
   (b) If an owner of land agrees to permit the use of his or her
land for agricultural laborer housing facilities authorized pursuant
to Section 51238, the city, county, housing authority, state agency,
or nonprofit organization may indemnify the owner against all claims
arising from that use.
  SEC. 4.  Section 65580 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   65580.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) The availability of housing is of vital statewide importance,
and the early attainment of decent housing and a suitable living
environment for every Californian, including farmworkers, is a
priority of the highest order.
   (b) The early attainment of this goal requires the cooperative
participation of government and the private sector in an effort to
expand housing opportunities and accommodate the housing needs of
Californians of all economic levels.
   (c) The provision of housing affordable to low- and
moderate-income households requires the cooperation of all levels of
government.
   (d) Local and state governments have a responsibility to use the
powers vested in them to facilitate the improvement and development
of housing to make adequate provision for the housing needs of all
economic segments of the community.
   (e) The Legislature recognizes that in carrying out this
responsibility, each local government also has the responsibility to
consider economic, environmental, and fiscal factors and community
goals set forth in the general plan and to cooperate with other local
governments and the state in addressing regional housing needs.
  SEC. 5.  Section 65583 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   65583.  The housing element shall consist of an identification and
analysis of existing and projected housing needs and a statement of
goals, policies, quantified objectives, financial resources, and
scheduled programs for the preservation, improvement, and development
of housing.  The housing element shall identify adequate sites for
housing, including rental housing, factory-built housing, and
mobilehomes, and shall make adequate provision for the existing and
projected needs of all economic segments of the community.  The
element shall contain all of the following:
   (a) An assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources
and constraints relevant to the meeting of these needs.  The
assessment and inventory shall include the following:
   (1) An analysis of population and employment trends and
documentation of projections and a quantification of the locality's
existing and projected housing needs for all income levels.  These
existing and projected needs shall include the locality's share of
the regional housing need in accordance with Section 65584.
   (2) An analysis and documentation of household characteristics,
including level of payment compared to ability to pay, housing
characteristics, including overcrowding, and housing stock condition.

   (3) An inventory of land suitable for residential development,
including vacant sites and sites having potential for redevelopment,
and an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities
and services to these sites.
   (4) An analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints
upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all
income levels, including land use controls, building codes and their
enforcement, site improvements, fees and other exactions required of
developers, and local processing and permit procedures.  The analysis
shall also demonstrate local efforts to remove governmental
constraints that hinder the locality from meeting its share of the
regional housing need in accordance with Section 65584.
   (5) An analysis of potential and actual nongovernmental
constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of
housing for all income levels, including the availability of
financing, the price of land, and the cost of construction.
   (6) An analysis of any special housing needs, such as those of the
handicapped, elderly, large families, farmworkers, families with
female heads of households, and families and persons in need of
emergency shelter.
   (7) An analysis of opportunities for energy conservation with
respect to residential development.
   (8) An analysis of existing assisted housing developments that are
eligible to change from low-income housing uses during the next 10
years due to termination of subsidy contracts, mortgage prepayment,
or expiration of restrictions on use.  "Assisted housing
developments," for the purpose of this section, shall mean
multifamily rental housing that receives governmental assistance
under federal programs listed in subdivision (a) of Section 65863.10,
state and local multifamily revenue bond programs, local
redevelopment programs, the federal Community Development Block Grant
Program, or local in-lieu fees.  "Assisted housing developments"
shall also include multifamily rental units that were developed
pursuant to a local inclusionary housing program or used to qualify
for a density bonus pursuant to Section 65916.
   (A) The analysis shall include a listing of each development by
project name and address, the type of governmental assistance
received, the earliest possible date of change from low-income use
and the total number of elderly and nonelderly units that could be
lost from the locality's low-income housing stock in each year during
the 10-year period.  For purposes of state and federally funded
projects, the analysis required by this subparagraph need only
contain information available on a statewide basis.
   (B) The analysis shall estimate the total cost of producing new
rental housing that is comparable in size and rent levels, to replace
the units that could change from low-income use, and an estimated
cost of preserving the assisted housing developments.  This cost
analysis for replacement housing may be done aggregately for each
five-year period and does not have to contain a project by project
cost estimate.
   (C) The analysis shall identify public and private nonprofit
corporations known to the local government which have legal and
managerial capacity to acquire and manage these housing developments.

   (D) The analysis shall identify and consider the use of all
federal, state, and local financing and subsidy programs which can be
used to preserve, for lower income households, the assisted housing
developments, identified in this paragraph, including, but not
limited to, federal Community Development Block Grant Program funds,
tax increment funds received by a redevelopment agency of the
community, and administrative fees received by a housing authority
operating within the community.  In considering the use of these
financing and subsidy programs, the analysis shall identify the
amounts of funds under each available program which have not been
legally obligated for other purposes and which could be available for
use in preserving assisted housing developments.
   (b) (1) A statement of the community's goals, quantified
objectives, and policies relative to the maintenance, preservation,
improvement, and development of housing.
   (2) It is recognized that the total housing needs identified
pursuant to subdivision (a) may exceed available resources and the
community's ability to satisfy this need within the content of the
general plan requirements outlined in Article 5 (commencing with
Section 65300).  Under these circumstances, the quantified objectives
need not be identical to the total housing needs.  The quantified
objectives shall establish the maximum number of housing units by
income category that can be constructed, rehabilitated, and conserved
over a five-year time period.
   (c) A program which sets forth a five-year schedule of actions the
local government is undertaking or intends to undertake to implement
the policies and achieve the goals and objectives of the housing
element through the administration of land use and development
controls, provision of regulatory concessions and incentives, and the
utilization of appropriate federal and state financing and subsidy
programs when available and the utilization of moneys in a Low and
Moderate Income Housing Fund of an agency if the locality has
established a redevelopment project area pursuant to the Community
Redevelopment Law (Division 24 (commencing with Section 33000) of the
Health and Safety Code).  In order to make adequate provision for
the housing needs of all economic segments of the community, the
program shall do all of the following:
   (1) (A) Identify adequate sites which will be made available
through appropriate zoning and development standards and with
services and facilities, including sewage collection and treatment,
domestic water supply, and septic tanks and wells, needed to
facilitate and encourage the development of a variety of types of
housing for all income levels, including multifamily rental housing,
factory-built housing, mobilehomes, housing for agricultural
employees, emergency shelters, and transitional housing in order to
meet the community's housing goals as identified in subdivision (b).
Where the inventory of sites, pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a), does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the
need for groups of all household income levels pursuant to Section
65584, the program shall provide for sufficient sites with zoning
that permits owner-occupied and rental multifamily residential use by
right, including density and development standards that could
accommodate and facilitate the feasibility of housing for very low
and low-income households.  Where the inventory of sites pursuant to
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) does not identify adequate sites to
accommodate the need for farmworker housing, the program shall
provide for sufficient sites to meet the need with zoning that
permits farmworker housing use by right, including density and
development standards that could accommodate and facilitate the
feasibility of the development of farmworker housing for low and very
low income households.
   (B) For purposes of this paragraph, the phrase "use by right"
shall mean the use does not require a conditional use permit, except
when the proposed project is a mixed-use project involving both
commercial or industrial uses and residential uses.  Use by right for
all rental multifamily residential housing shall be provided in
accordance with subdivision (f) of Section 65589.5.
   (C) The requirements of this subdivision regarding identification
of sites for farmworker housing shall apply commencing with the next
revision of housing elements required by Section 65588 following the
enactment of this subparagraph.
   (2) Assist in the development of adequate housing to meet the
needs of low- and moderate-income households.
   (3) Address and, where appropriate and legally possible, remove
governmental constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and
development of housing.
   (4) Conserve and improve the condition of the existing affordable
housing stock, which may include addressing ways to mitigate the loss
of dwelling units demolished by public or private action.
   (5) Promote housing opportunities for all persons regardless of
race, religion, sex, marital status, ancestry, national origin, or
color.
   (6) (A) Preserve for lower income households the assisted housing
developments identified pursuant to paragraph (8) of subdivision (a).
  The program for preservation of the assisted housing developments
shall utilize, to the extent necessary, all available federal, state,
and local financing and subsidy programs identified in paragraph (8)
of subdivision (a), except where a community has other urgent needs
for which alternative funding sources are not available.  The program
may include strategies that involve local regulation and technical
assistance.
   (B) The program shall include an identification of the agencies
and officials responsible for the implementation of the various
actions and the means by which consistency will be achieved with
other general plan elements and community goals.  The local
government shall make a diligent effort to achieve public
participation of all economic segments of the community in the
development of the housing element, and the program shall describe
this effort.
   (d) The analysis and program for preserving assisted housing
developments required by the amendments to this section enacted by
the Statutes of 1989 shall be adopted as an amendment to the housing
element by July 1, 1992.
   (e) Failure of the department to review and report its findings
pursuant to Section 65585 to the local government between July 1,
1992, and the next periodic review and revision required by Section
65588, concerning the housing element amendment required by the
amendments to this section by the Statutes of 1989, shall not be used
as a basis for allocation or denial of any housing assistance
administered pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 50400) of
Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code.
  SEC. 6.  Section 65950 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   65950.  (a) Any public agency that is the lead agency for a
development project shall approve or disapprove the project within
whichever of the following periods is applicable:
   (1) (A) One hundred eighty days from the date of certification by
the lead agency of the environmental impact report if an
environmental impact report is prepared pursuant to Section 21100 or
21151 of the Public Resources Code for the development project.
   (B) Ninety days from the date of certification by the lead agency
of the environmental impact report, if an environmental impact report
is prepared pursuant to Section 21100 or 21151 of the Public
Resources Code for the development project and all of the following
conditions are met:
   (i) The development project consists of the development of housing
for agricultural employees, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section
1140.4 of the Labor Code, and is affordable to very low or
low-income households, as defined pursuant to Sections 50105 and
50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, respectively.
   (ii) Prior to the application being deemed complete for the
development project pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
65940), the lead agency received written notice from the project
applicant that an application has been made or will be made for an
allocation or commitment of financing, tax credits, bond authority,
or other financial assistance from a public agency or federal agency,
and the notice specifies the financial assistance that has been
applied for or will be applied for and the deadline for application
for that assistance, the requirement that one of the approvals of the
development project by the lead agency is a prerequisite to the
application for or approval of the application for financial
assistance, and that the financial assistance is necessary for the
project to be affordable as required pursuant to clause (i).
   (iii) There is confirmation that the application pursuant to
clause (i) has been made to the public agency or federal agency prior
to certification of the environmental impact report.
   (2) Sixty days from the date of adoption by the lead agency of the
negative declaration if a negative declaration is completed and
adopted for the development project.
   (3) Sixty days from the determination by the lead agency that the
project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code) if the project is exempt from the California Environmental
Quality Act.
   (b) Nothing in this section precludes a project applicant and a
public agency from mutually agreeing in writing to an extension of
any time limit provided by this section pursuant to Section 65957.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "lead agency" and "negative
declaration" shall have the same meaning as those terms are defined
in Sections 21067 and 21064 of the Public Resources Code,
respectively.
  SEC. 7.  It is the intent of the Legislature that when reviewing a
jurisdiction's housing element for substantial compliance with state
law, the Department of Housing and Community Development shall (a)
consider whether the sites identified for farmworker housing pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 65583 of the
Government Code facilitate the improvement and development of housing
for farmworkers while minimizing the development of prime
agricultural land to urban uses, and (b) recognize and support
efforts by cities and counties in agricultural areas to work together
cooperatively to identify their respective share of the sites needed
for farmworker housing and to locate those sites, to the extent
feasible, within or adjacent to existing urbanized areas.
  SEC. 8.  Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.  If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.
  SEC. 9.  Section 6 of this act shall become operative only if SB
948 is not enacted in the first year of the 1999-2000 Regular Session
of the Legislature.
